Taking action for nature at Bentley CE Primary School

Taking action for nature 

Pupils at Bentley have been incredibly passionate about taking action to protect nature over the years, with regular eco lessons, an Eco Council and starting to create a nature reserve in their school's woodland area in response to the State of Nature Report. Joining the Nature Park has brought together the work they've been doing on their their school grounds with others across the country, and they've been using the programme resources to empower children to have a voice and take ownership over every change made in their school grounds. 

Through the Nature Park the children have been really empowered to make decisions and for their voices to be heard.  For example, most children really wanted a pond in our school grounds which we have installed this summer. 

Emma Jones, Sustainability Lead

Empowering young people

The whole school has been involved in the National Education Nature Park since it was launched in 2023.  Pupils participate in activities as part of regular eco lessons and the school has nature clubs which further embed changes to their grounds. 

The first change they made was developing their woodland nature reserve, which was selected by pupils as they felt it was the space with the most potential for nature to thrive. Pupils recognised that they had enough space for play already and chose to dedicate a whole section of the woods just for nature to thrive. The Eco Council launched a competition to design the nature reserve and the winners then created it.
 

I feel joy seeing all the nature at school. 

Year 6 pupil

Transforming unused areas

In 2024, pupils learnt about the butterfly emergency and this sparked another competition to design a new pollinator garden on the site of a former garden. The Eco Council helped run this competition and the winners formed a working group who developed the site. These 'Nature Guardians' take care of the garden and help keep it a space that classes can use. The school have linked up with Alton Men's Shed, who are helping to build a model bug village. Parents are kept informed through Facebook posts, a weekly Eco Update in the school’s newsletter and Eco Workshops. 

The impact of the Nature Park

The Nature Park has raised the status of the work Bentley are doing to protect nature in their school grounds. Being part of something much bigger than their grounds provides motivation to keep making a positive difference. 

Our pupils are very lucky to have access to such a fantastic outdoor space, which provides lots of opportunities for learning outside, playing with their friends and personal development.  Our woods, nature reserve and pollinator garden all foster children’s natural curiosity, enabling them to explore different plants and animals that are native to their local environment, as well as creating a sense of wellbeing and nature connection. This encourages deep thinking about how we can respect and look after the Earth’s natural resources, ensuring they can be enjoyed by generations to come.

Becky Miffling, Deputy Head 

The Attenborough Garden and hopes for the future

Bentley hopes that their nature reserve and pollinator garden attract a variety of wildlife from frogs and newts in the pond to bees and butterflies in the garden. 

I would love to see the whole school community benefitting from our school grounds more from outdoor science lessons in the pollinator garden to staff taking time outside for lunch or meetings.

  Emma Jones, Sustainability Lead

Bentley named their pollinator garden the 'Attenborough Garden', after Sir David Attenborough, and opened it in a ceremony on Friday 8 May 2026 to celebrate his 100th birthday.

Bentley's top tips for other schools

1. Get the whole school community involved so everyone has ownership over the process
2. Competitions are a great way of engaging young people
3. Allow children to be creative
4. Anything is possible with the right mindset! That includes model bug villages!